Not only do I get headaches easily but I also get carsick (motion sickness) very easily. I still can’t get on a boat without feeling nauseous!

We’ve decided to take a road trip to my husbands aunts house for Thanksgiving this year and I am already freaking out. Of course my husband thinks it’s hilarious and has been taunting me the whole day. His solution is to take a sleeping pill and sleep until we get there but I did that last year with horrible results. I took the sleeping pill at 11am, when we started the car ride, and woke up around 1pm. As soon as I walked in the door, I knew I felt a little “off”. Of course, I didn’t know that the sleeping pill still hadn’t worn off. As we sat down to dinner someone handed me a glass of wine and that is literally the last thing I remember. From my husbands account, I had apparently started talking about how I never got over the death of my dog when I was sixteen. Then I laid my head down on my plate of food and fell asleep.

Needless to say, I don’t want that to happen again. So I’ve done my research this year and figured out how to deal with long car rides…

1. Give the kids movies and headphones

One of the big reasons why I get headaches is when my two kids start fighting in the backseat of the car. This year I hooked up two tablets to the front seats and will be giving them headphones to listen to it.

Bonine is a freakin’ godsend for traveling. I swear it cures my motion sickness for a few hours. If you ever do traveling, buy some just incase.

3. Take Valerian Root

The safer alternative to a sleeping pill, Valerian root is all natural. It doesn’t make you fall asleep bot rather “promotes” relaxation which can put you to sleep. I have tried it before and was very happy with the results.

4. Listed To A Book On Tape

I have been getting behind on my reading and since I will be in a car for a few hours I thought this would be the perfect opportunity to catch up. However, since I get bad motion sickness, I don’t want to risk it. That is why I decided to buy the same book I was reading but the audio version. This way I can skip up to the point I was at and finish up the book!

If there’s one thing I love (besides my amazing husband and beautiful children), it’s being pampered. Every woman out there, no matter how old, loves a spa day. It is one of the few times, as a mother, you can sit back and let someone else do the work.

Earlier today I went to my favorite little spa house in Connecticut for a Yon-Ka “Hydralessence Visage” treatment.

I am a huge fan of Yon-Ka (both their services and the products they make). Yes, they are expensive but for the price you pay, you get back 100x more in your skin and wellbeing.

I had my first experience with Yon-Ka when I was in Paris, France on my honeymoon, years ago. One of our relatives got me a full day at a luxury spa. Just thinking about that day makes me melt. It was one of the most relaxing, beautiful experiences of my life. From the sound of the water coming from the fresh well outside, to the aromatherapy and essential oils they used – I was hooked. It wasn’t until I could find an english translator to help me figure out the products used that I realized who Yon-Ka is.

Apparently, they are part luxury skin care and part aromatherapy but there is something they use in their ingredients that truly invigorates all of your senses. The only thing I can compare my treatments to would be the feeling of relaxation and freshness that you get on a warm spring day, with no clouds in the sky. The sun lightly grazing your face. The wind blowing the beautiful smell of flowers into your nose… You just feel at peace.

Okay, so back to my treatment today!

Like I said earlier, I received the Hydralessence Visage treatment. This is the one I normally go with because I have very dry skin. My dry skin always acts up when the weather changes rapidly from warm to cold (like in the Fall). This treatment is absolutely perfect for smoothing out fine lines caused by dry skin too.

It is a sixty minute experience that consists of 7 stages. I wish I knew exactly what my esthetician was doing, but to be honest, I usually am somewhere in a dream state within the first five minutes.

If your esthetician or local spa offers Yon-Ka treatments (they are exclusive to certain spas), definitely treat yourself and book an experience! You will not regret it…

It’s been a crazy week as we plan a spur of the moment trip to Kansas next Friday to visit my sister and her family. She just had a baby boy and got out of the hospital on Wednesday of last week. I figure that the family can all get together and help her out during her recovery.

I can remember the daze I was in the following weeks after giving birth. It feels almost surreal for the first few days, like you’re living in a dream.

Your emotions run wild as your body processes that you just lost 8 lbs of something living inside of you. It definitely takes some time to fully recover. Therefore, I am more than happy to drive the two hundred mile journey to see her!

This also gives my family a chance to take some time and be together.

Tyler and Randy have been off doing there own thing for the past few weeks – soccer, work, homework, etc. I’ve been trying to get my garden all prepped for winter (don’t want the vegetables to perish).

In the back of my mind, when my sisters husband invited us to come down, I was happy that it would give us all a chance to be together and “reset” our lives for a second.

Randy will still be working from the hotel room but he promised to take some time off and have with me.

Now that I think about it, what fun stuff is there to do in Kansas? Aw, shucks. Haha…

Today we decided to pull the trigger and redecorate our living room – what a chore!

I cannot believe it has been three years since my husband and I moved into our home with our little guy :). When we first moved in, our house was seriously a piece of garbage. We didn’t have much money at the time and needed to settle down to raise our newborn. Luckily enough my family has a lot of connections with contractors in NJ. But when we couldn’t pull favors, Ryan and I were on our hands and knees working hard to renovate our new home. It took over six months but we saw a huge difference.

So, back to today, Ryan and I decided to stop by my absolute favorite store in the world – Restoration Hardware. I feel like a child on Christmas Eve when I walk in – so giddy!

Below are some of the styles we are thinking about, I would love to get your input. What do you think?

Hi! I'm Julie Ferguson. Mommy Ferg Blog is a website I run to help other mothers out there with my own sage advice. I like writing about a wide range of topics: parenting, makeup, skin care, and more. I'd love to connect with you, if you have a question or comment (contact me here).